AND NOW, PHASE TWO; CREWS TO ADD PARKING LOT AT PELONA VISTA.

Byline: Charles F. Bostwick Daily News Staff Writer

With grading taking longer than expected, the City Council has approved a $1.1 million contract for the second phase of Pelona Vista Park's expansion.

Work under the second contract to create a landscaped, 445-space parking lot is expected to start within about two weeks as construction crews wrap up the grading, which went down to bedrock - 26 feet below the park soccer field level - in preparation for a retention basin dam.

``It took a little bit longer only because we had been dealing with the State Division of Dam Safety,'' said Leon Swain, deputy director of public works. ``They approved the grading down to bedrock a week or so ago.''

The expansion project, which started last fall, will add four lighted soccer fields, a playground, restrooms, picnic areas and a parking lot that can be used by car-poolers during the week and parkgoers on weekends.

The parking lot is expected to open in May, and the soccer fields are scheduled to be ready for games in September, Swain said. To make sure the fields are ready, city officials have decided to cover them with sod instead of hydroseeding them.

Hydroseeding - seeds planted in a fertilizer mixture - is cheaper than laying sod, but it would mean letting the grass grow for a year before opening the fields to play, Swain said. The city also would have faced the expense of watering and maintaining the fields for a year without being able to use them, he added.

City officials are negotiating with the contractor on how much more the sod will cost, he said.

The first phase of Pelona Vista opened in September 1997, providing playing fields for thousands of Palmdale AYSO soccer players. That phase included five lighted soccer fields, restrooms, a parking lot, an information kiosk, a maintenance building and an office.

The grading for the second phase is being done under a $2.1 million contract, which also includes installing irrigation and electrical lines, storm drains and grass.

Built close to hillsides, the complex is shaped to maintain storm water flow around the facility and direct it to a dam that will be built as the project is completed. Like Marie Kerr and Domenic Massari Parks, Pelona Vista's playing fields would fill with water during severe storms.

Construction of the dam is still several years away, Swain said. Shaped like a V, with its arms running beside the Antelope Valley Freeway and Rayburn Road, the dam will be some 2,400 feet long, he said. The top of the dam will extend 22 feet above the freeway, he said.

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PHOTO (1--2--Color) The Palmdale City Council has approved a second phase of expansion at Pelona Vista Park, above. At left, in about two weeks, crews are expected to begin work on a 445-space parking lot at the site.

Jeff Goldwater/Daily News